“Yeah, with the boyfriend’s gun,” Officer Crater shares, taking the phone from Henry’s hand and pocketing it.
“And you made it look like he was the killer?” Henry narrows his eyes at Officer Crater, and I suck in a breath, afraid Henry has caught on.
“I left the gun for the cops to find,” he says, and then Henry slaps his back like he’s congratulating him.
Luke swears under his breath next to me and I squeeze his hand. He’s just as disturbed by this as I am, but he’s holding it together a lot better than I am.
Knowing it’s almost over, I glance at the monitors that are recording Matt in Emily. They look happy playing games, and I wonder if they will be able to be happy after this.
“Here’s what I owe you,” Henry says, pulling an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and hands it to Office Crater. “If this blows back on me, the insurance fraud evidence I have on you will go to the police. I’ll take you down right along with me.”
“Understood,” Officer Crater says taking the money then gets up. That’s when Dave & Buster’s erupts in chaos.
Three men descend on Henry, but I don’t watch his arrest. I don’t hear the words he yells at Officer Crater, who is also being arrested. I search the monitors for Emily and Matt.
Two men move in on them, pulling their badges out for them to see, but Matt eyes them cautiously as they approach. Emily looks up at her brother while dropping the whack-a-mole hammer.
“Matt, Emily, you need to come with us,” one of the officers says to them, both still holding their badges up.
“I want to find my dad,” Matt says to them, then looks around the whack-a-mole game toward the bar. His eyes go wide when he sees the men kneeling over a cursing Henry.
“Your mom is outside waiting for you,” the officer says. Emily clutches her brother’s arms and my vision floods with tears. I want out of this vehicle. They look so small on the monitor, so innocent. They don’t deserve this. None of this.
“Can we go and get them?” Luke asks, ready to leave the utility van they told us we had to wait in. Luke wouldn’t let them keep us at the station and demanded we be on location. They only allowed it when Detective Dennison vouched for us, promising he would make sure we stayed put in the utility van until he gave us the green light to leave.
“As soon as they take Henry to the station,” Dennison says, watching the monitors at my side.
“What do I tell Matt and Emily?” I say to Luke, realizing I have no idea how to explain this to them.
“Little as possible for now,” he says, pulling me into his side and kissing my temple.
“We don’t want Henry to know you are still alive. Not until we have questioned him.” Dennison watches the vehicle Henry is being loaded in. Long torturous minutes tick by before the cruiser holding Henry locked in the back drives off in the opposite direction from us.
Dennison finally opens the utility van door but doesn’t let us exit. The two officers who approached Matt and Emily exit Dave & Buster’s and head toward us. I look at Dennison, who steps aside, and I’m running the moment my feet hit the ground. My only thoughts are to grab them, hug them and shield them from everything.
“Mommy!” Emily calls out, holding her arms wide so I can scoop her up. I pull her into me and hug her tight, unable to stop the tears that spill out. I won’t ever let them go
I pull Matt into my hug, squeezing him. He doesn’t protest but says something to Luke. I have no idea what was said, I just want to hug them, smell them, breathe in their sweet scent, and just be thankful they are safe in my arms.
27
- Luke -
“Tell Jax thank you for me. You can’t even tell this place was shot up,” Amber says, snugging into my side. We made it home earlier this evening after we finished meeting with the Kansas City detectives and social services. While we were gone, Benny and Jax got to work on the house fixing the drywall, replacing our bed with a new mattress, and even replacing our door. Benny didn’t want Amber to be reminded of the horrific events she has had to live through. For that, I will be forever thankful.
Social workers were available when we took the kids to the Kansas City police station. They helped us break the news as best we could to Emily and Matt that they won’t be seeing their father any time soon.
“Why?” Emily had asked, swinging her feet in the chair. Both the kids were given some snacks to munch on and she eagerly ate hers.
“You father has to go away for a very long time, and I’m not sure when you will be able to talk to him,” Amber said, looking at the social worker for reassurance. She nodded and gave Amber a sympathetic smile.
“Is he in jail?” Matt asked, visibly upset.
“He is in jail, yes.”
“What did he do?” Emily frowned, realizing her father wasn’t going away on a trip but going away where she knew bad men went.
“He did something very bad.”
“Oh . . ..” She looked to Matt, who nodded.
After that, there was little talk about Henry. The social workers gave Amber some contacts for counseling and encouraged her to set up an appointment for the kids after the holidays. I think it would be good for them all. Help them get adjusted to their new life without their father.
Charges were made and Henry was arrested, but until he goes before a judge, we won’t know what will happen next.
Now we are home, sitting in a new limbo. There is so much I want to talk to Amber about, yet I don’t want to worry or overwhelm her.
“It was nice of Jax to have pizza delivered,” Amber says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Underneath all that wild, he’s a pretty nice guy.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you getting tired?” I ask her, though it’s only nine and the kids went to bed not that long ago.
“I want to stay here and listen for the kids,” she says quietly. “Is that weird?”
“No.”
“I know they are safe. We are safe, but I’m just . . ..”
“Worried?” I ask, tucking her hair behind her ear. My hand caresses down her neck and arm.
“Yeah.” She sighs. “Do you think they will be okay?”
“The kids? Yes.”
“You’re so confident about that.” Amber lifts her head to search my face.
“It has always been you who gave them a home; you made them feel safe and loved. I don’t think they got that from Henry. Their routine isn’t going to change. They have friends and family who love them and will support them. Yes, what Henry did was devastating, but it won’t break them. I’m more worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” she says and lays her head down again, but I lift it up to see her face.
“Are you fine?”
“Of course.”
“If this place . . . doesn’t feel safe for you anymore, we can move. I want you to feel safe.”
“What that man did entering our home and . . ..” She doesn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she looks away and sucks a breath. “I can’t let him win.”
“Let him win?”
“Henry,” Amber says, sitting up and faces me. “Henry tried to take so much from me. If I let what he tried to do scare me out of this house, a house I have started to dream of a future in, I feel like Henry wins. If I let what he tried to do scare me, he has power over me. Power I don’t want him to have. I refuse to be scared over what happened. But mostly, I refuse to let him take the one thing that has become so important to me these last few weeks.”